Well-Known Member

I get that if you are trying to keep your job, but when you quit and are on the way out why not at least alert the authorities to the illegal activity she was witness to? A letter to HR could have saved others the same treatment, if it was really that bad.

But if alerting HR to illegal and unethical behavior by senior executives is career suicide and too much for you to stomach, then what is it called when you write a 1,000 word essay for Variety and throw the whole company under the bus? With a glamorous artsy head shot at the start of the article, just so everyone knows what you look like in addition to your name and full resume'? https://variety.com/2018/film/news/pixar-boys-club-john-lasseter-cassandra-smolcic-1202858982/

Well-Worn Member

And why can't a talented graphic artist who also happens to be an attractive young woman expect to be rated and treated based on the quality of her work instead of how well she tolerates sexual harassment?

If the company is as rife with senior harassers as her treatise indicates, the company needs some reorientation.

Member

And why can't a talented graphic artist who also happens to be an attractive young woman expect to be rated and treated based on the quality of her work instead of how well she tolerates sexual harassment?

If the company is as rife with senior harassers as her treatise indicates, the company needs some reorientation.

No one should tolerate sexual harassment. But this is ALLEGED sexual harassment.

My problem is this is vigilante justice. Just write an article alleging some level of sexual harassment, ruining his reputation forever while giving him no way to ever clear his name. She has just hung the Scarlet Letter A around his neck. That is why you go to HR or the EEOC to get an investigation from uninvolved parties. Her article is a biased point of view that only supports that JL is a serial sexual harasser. I'm not saying that is wrong, but we, the reader, need to understand this and not treat this as the whole truth. JL should be afforded due process and then suffer any consequences. That is not happening here.

Well-Known Member

No one should tolerate sexual harassment. But this is ALLEGED sexual harassment.

My problem is this is vigilante justice. Just write an article alleging some level of sexual harassment, ruining his reputation forever while giving him no way to ever clear his name. She has just hung the Scarlet Letter A around his neck. That is why you go to HR or the EEOC to get an investigation from uninvolved parties. Her article is a biased point of view that only supports that JL is a serial sexual harasser. I'm not saying that is wrong, but we, the reader, need to understand this and not treat this as the whole truth. JL should be afforded due process and then suffer any consequences. That is not happening here.

Well-Known Member

And why can't a talented graphic artist who also happens to be an attractive young woman expect to be rated and treated based on the quality of her work instead of how well she tolerates sexual harassment?

If the company is as rife with senior harassers as her treatise indicates, the company needs some reorientation.

I know I previously stated that I wasn't going to share my opinion, but I just can't keep quiet on this one. (Please bear with me...I know this is long.)

Rotten behavior on the part of bosses is rampant, especially in niche industries. The way the people in power in those types of businesses see things, it's extremely difficult to change jobs in that industry, so you won't do anything about their bad behavior just so you can stay gainfully employed. I was once given a terrible 30-day review just because the boss didn't want to take me off probationary status and give me full pay. I was told "You'd better work like you're worth it". Mind you, I'd never had anything but stellar reviews prior to that, and when I asked a couple of trusted coworkers if they thought I'd been slacking, they were shocked. I chose to keep my head down, dig in, and prove my worth. (I also happen to be a graphic designer, but my skills extend far beyond just that.)

Having said all of the above, AND having worked in several businesses in which I was usually the only female...she could have handled herself better. Is it horrible that she was treated the way she was? Absolutely. It was also horrible that she went through so many of the things she did prior to and during her employment at Pixar. HOWEVER...she needs to accept responsibility for herself here, as well. Two of the stories she related through her essay exist simply because she put herself in a vulnerable position - the amusement park ride, and getting drunk at a party and going off into the woods with a group of older boys. (I also get the impression that the boy at the amusement park was older and more experienced than she.)

Since the age of 13 (I'm now 46), I have worked in various jobs in which women were either the extreme rarity or worked in the offices, while I was in production, on the road doing installations or site surveys (often on construction sites, and very often without a co-worker), or in a separate part of the building entirely. I won't lie and say there were never inappropriate comments or behavior, but I managed to never be fired and at the same time made it clear that there was no way I would tolerate that kind of behavior. Mind you, I'm 5'5" tall and *might* weigh in at 125 lbs. soaking wet, so its not like I'm some big, intimidating person. There are ways to discourage bad behavior from men without finding yourself caught up in water cooler rumors or, at worst, forced to leave your job.

My overall impression is that in her earlier stories she was extraordinarily naive (obviously no one taught her how the big, dangerous world works), later in life chose to continuously play the victim, and when she saw an opportunity for her "15 minutes", she took it. Lasseter had already been placed on leave when she wrote this, and while the nature of the culture at Pixar needed to be brought out into the open, the world didn't need to hear her life story. As someone else mentioned, she didn't even name the other man she was accusing even though she no longer works with him. Our actions (and inaction) are choices, and hers are clear throughout her essay.

Could it be that I remained unscathed because I am of a different generation and was raised differently? Maybe. Could it be that self-preservation is a stronger instinct for me? That could be too. However, her admission that she'd witnessed several instances of abuse and violence towards women during her formative years and her self-description as an "awkward, ugly-duckling-type tomboy" (I was the epitome of "awkward tom-boy" until about 12 years old) lead me to believe that her self-esteem and self-worth were damaged early in her life, which in and of themselves can lead to all sorts of incorrect thinking about one's self and poor decision-making. That entire essay reads like a "poor me, feel bad for me!", and that seems to be a "thing" these days, so I'm taking her essay with a grain of salt.

Member

Correct - HR (and Legal) is there to protect the company. If that means the manager is fired to prevent further legal exposure, then that is what happens. That has happened at a sister operating company where I work when their President was terminated for a continuing consensual relationship with a subordinate. Of course the announcement said he was leaving for health reasons. So HR (and really Legal) has more options than just paying off someone for silence.

I am doubtful that during an exit interview, the company representative would acknowledge sexual harassment was occurring. That would mean an agent of TWDW was aware and unresponsive to prevent further events. She should go to a lawyer and file a lawsuit. HR/Mgmt is trained to never admit anything.

So vigilante justice against John is ok? I have not referenced anyone else. Isn't this country built off of "it is better for 10 guilty persons to escape than 1 innocent person suffer?" John is probably guilty of some level of sexual harassment. But maybe, just maybe, it is not to the level of eternal damnation.

Well-Known Member

I get that if you are trying to keep your job, but when you quit and are on the way out why not at least alert the authorities to the illegal activity she was witness to? A letter to HR could have saved others the same treatment, if it was really that bad.

But if alerting HR to illegal and unethical behavior by senior executives is career suicide and too much for you to stomach, then what is it called when you write a 1,000 word essay for Variety and throw the whole company under the bus? With a glamorous artsy head shot at the start of the article, just so everyone knows what you look like in addition to your name and full resume'? https://variety.com/2018/film/news/pixar-boys-club-john-lasseter-cassandra-smolcic-1202858982/

What I gather is you don't believe her. Further that she is using it for career advancement. Whistleblowers rarely come out ahead in the end so if the goal was fame and fortune, it's probably not happening.

An actor came out today and says he is afraid to date in a #metoo world because he fears being accused of rape. I'm sure many can relate to that fear of false accusations. It can be natural to think that because as a good person you want to think that most are like you and would never do such a terrible thing. You want to to believe that accusations of wrong doing are false and so you come up with any way to rationalize that we don't live in this type of world. It turns into questioning or even blaming the victim. Reaching to the extent of over-examining a photo that was almost assuredly picked out by an editor, not the writer.

The overwhelming evidence is that most accusations are indeed true. Depending on the study roughly 2-4% of sexual assault accusations are false. Yet there is consistent blaming of the victim in public. Why didn't they do this or that. Well since this is not how I would have handled even though I was not in the situation that means they are lying and trying to make a name for themselves.

I don't know why she made the decisions she did. She left Pixar some time ago. Perhaps she felt it was time. It took years for Weinstein victims to come forward. That doesn't make what they said untrue. From what I know about this woman she no longer works in animation and probably never will again. If she felt comfortable with that, the time may have felt right to come forward. It seems like she has laid pretty low since the article came out. A pretty peculiar approach if she wanted to make a name for herself.

Well-Known Member

The wind tousled hair casually splayed across her face. The Mona Lisa non-smile smile. The casual-yet-curated ethnic scarf splayed around her head for no apparent reason. And the rugged coastal bluff (Is it Ireland? Big Sur? Portugal? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.). It's all supposed to look so simple, yet so obviously and painfully staged and preened and humblebragged.

That's exactly when a selfie becomes a glamorous artsy head shot. And I think that tells me all I need to know about this young lady and how she views herself and those who are lucky enough to enter her orbit.

No one deserves to be sexually harassed in the workplace. But before you leave the house you should always take one thing off, and that silly scarf pushes her artsy head shot over the edge.

Well-Known Member

Oh good Lord. An editor grabbed the photo from her instagram feed. No wonder women don't report harassment. Let's make up any reason to not believe them. Let's examine every little aspect and find any reason to discredit them. I guess the next logical excuse is she was asking for it.

If she was trying to make a a name for herself, where are the interviews, press conferences, reality show pitches? She wrote one article and disappeared. Sounds like someone trying to profit. Right.

Well-Known Member

Oh good Lord. An editor grabbed the photo from her instagram feed. No wonder women don't report harassment. Let's make up any reason to not believe them. Let's examine every little aspect and find any reason to discredit them. I guess the next logical excuse is she was asking for it.

If she was trying to make a a name for herself, where are the interviews, press conferences, reality show pitches? She wrote one article and disappeared. Sounds like someone trying to profit. Right.

Well-Known Member

It DOESN'T look like reality is my point. The positioning of the scarf on her head makes it clear that the strand of hair in her face was placed there. I've always had longish hair, and the only way to achieve what she's got going on is by faking it.

Well-Worn Member

It DOESN'T look like reality is my point. The positioning of the scarf on her head makes it clear that the strand of hair in her face was placed there. I've always had longish hair, and the only way to achieve what she's got going on is by faking it.

I guess I was confused by your example, in which the "expectation" (no hair on the face) is juxtaposed with the "reality" (hair in the face). And, frankly, her hair doesn't look all that long in the photo.

But I can see, based on the photo, with or without hair in her face, why others at Pixar might, as she reported in her dissertation, try to keep her away from John Lasseter. Based on his reported behavior, he would have been very distracted by her being in the room.

Well-Known Member

It DOESN'T look like reality is my point. The positioning of the scarf on her head makes it clear that the strand of hair in her face was placed there. I've always had longish hair, and the only way to achieve what she's got going on is by faking it.

Well-Known Member

It DOESN'T look like reality is my point. The positioning of the scarf on her head makes it clear that the strand of hair in her face was placed there. I've always had longish hair, and the only way to achieve what she's got going on is by faking it.

Well-Known Member

- a complete lack of knowledge or understanding of why people do not report harassment. Most do not and for valid reasons. From her own words she was warned multiple times by other colleagues how to behave who to stay away from etc. As someone who works in the entertainment industry I can tell you that even today it is best for your career if you don't say anything. I've seen countless of very talented men and women sadly leave because they could no longer or refuse to work under certain conditions.
- I'm not sure where the mediocre skills comment came from. In response to someone else mentioning going down the street to Dreamworks perhaps? If so, Dreamworks is not down the street from Pixar. In fact, after Pixar she had a pretty sweet job. Maybe she didn't want to work in animation after her experience at Pixar? Maybe she didn't want to move? Maybe she just found a job she liked after Pixar that didn't happen to be in animation but also doing what she loved. She is a graphic designer not an animator. There are plenty of ways you can go with graphic design.
- I won't even address not fun at a party comment. Perhaps an attempt at humor, but if you read her full story, you may rephrase. Or maybe not based on past comments you've made about others.

In the same post we have someone saying they should have both reported the incidents and question their talent because they don't have some prestigious animation job today. Victims face these sorts of problems every day and why so many never choose to report. They are called names, judged by the ignorant, and often blackballed when they try to move on. Imagine the victim trying to work up the corporate ladder and contemplating what to do. Knowing full well that if they report the illegal things being done to them that their career in animation is likely over and who knows what other fields. Which path do they choose?

It's easy to Monday morning quarterback and say they should have done this or that. We were not there and can't possible be in a position to judge. From experience of working in those types of environments I can say it is not easy to do what some people think is so easy. It simply isn't.

Well-Known Member

The wind tousled hair casually splayed across her face. The Mona Lisa non-smile smile. The casual-yet-curated ethnic scarf splayed around her head for no apparent reason. And the rugged coastal bluff (Is it Ireland? Big Sur? Portugal? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.). It's all supposed to look so simple, yet so obviously and painfully staged and preened and humblebragged.

That's exactly when a selfie becomes a glamorous artsy head shot. And I think that tells me all I need to know about this young lady and how she views herself and those who are lucky enough to enter her orbit.

No one deserves to be sexually harassed in the workplace. But before you leave the house you should always take one thing off, and that silly scarf pushes her artsy head shot over the edge.

Please explain why her taking a photo of herself for her own personal Instagram, where she wanted to look nice (staged or not), is in any way whatsoever related to her being sexually harrassed at Pixar? Are women not allowed to take nice pictures of themselves? Does this somehow make the behavior she experienced okay? Or does it mean she deserved it? I'd love to know your reasoning for even bringing it up in the first place.

Well-Known Member

I truly can't believe the lengths some people will go to to try and discredit someone. We have devolved into examining the position of a woman's hair as to whether or not they are trustworthy. Someone wanted to look nice in a photo. That means they are a liar.

To Recap:
- Alleged victim is a bore and not good at dinner parties because they aren't good natured about being sexually harassed
- Alleged victim can't be believed because the photo used in the article is too nice
- Alleged victim can't be believed and is likely using this article as a platform to profit off of, without an evidence to the fact. Actually all evidence points in the opposite direction.

Someone is arguing that a woman should have reported harassment and then displays behavior to prove why women don't report harassment. Congratulations.

Well-Known Member

If we're talking about staged photos, forum avatars seem to be a great focal point. After all, they're selected to represent someone's particular character to the rest of the forum in a manner of the user's choosing. That's some Grade-A Prime staging, right there.

So let's take a look-see at yours.

What I'm seeing here appears to be an image of air travel ca. Mad Men, in time period if not in direct reference. Now, if I understand correctly, Mad Men presented a business culture that was... well, let's just say, not too much fun for women, at dinner parties or otherwise.

Your choosing this type of image could suggest some unfortunate things (relative to the current thread, of course) about you and how you relate to women, since, after all, one might judge a person's credibility and bearing from a photo, right?

Now, this could fork into any number of directions, such as whether you display a scintillating personality at a dinner party or whether a woman would be safe in a room alone with you, but for the purposes of this experiment, let's just zone into one thing, and one thing only.

Do you agree with your avatar photo being used to judge your character, or not?